Category: Policy
Sri Lanka holds rates unchanged after policy meeting
Apr 26, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s monetary board held interest rates unchanged after a monthly policy meeting to allow time for recent tightening to take its course. “Considering the fact that the Central Bank has already adopted measures to tighten monetary policy by raising the Statutory Reserve Ratio (SRR) and policy interest rates, and […]
US expected to hold rates this week
Apr 25, 2016 (LBO) – The U.S Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates when its policy makers meet this week. More important than the actual rate decision at this week’s (26th-27th) Fed meeting will be the language of the policy statement, analysts say. “The market for Fed funds futures seems to be […]
Interview: Sri Lanka wants infrastructure that generate revenue, says Niroshan Perera
Apr 22, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka will move ahead with development projects that generate revenue while strengthening accountability of state institutions to Parliament, a government minister said. State Minister for National Policies and Economic Affairs, Niroshan Perera, spoke to Lanka Business Online on several aspects of policy. Projects such as the Mattala airport and […]
Sri Lanka’s govt. sets standard for appointing boards of SOE’s
Apr 08, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s cabinet has decided to approve a set criteria for consideration for appointing of chairmen and board of directors of State Owned Enterprises in the island. “Lack of a clear-cut policy directives with regard to management of Public Enterprises, failure to delegate decision-making to senior management, absence in commercial […]
India likely to cut rates, eyes on FOMC minutes
Apr 04, 2016 (LBO) – Both the Reserve Bank of India and the Reserve Bank of Australia will announce interest rate decisions on Tuesday, with Moody’s Analytics expecting the RBI to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.5 percent. The Monetary Authority of Singapore will also meet this week, and analysts expect […]
Final decision on VAT next week, says State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa
Apr 01, 2016 (LBO) – The final decision on Value Added Tax will be taken by next Friday, State Finance Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena told LankaBusinessOnline a short while ago. “No decision has been taken yet. It will be decided next Friday,” Abeywardena said. Inland Revenue Department has issued a notice to the VAT registered […]
Sri Lanka rates held unchanged after monetary policy meeting
Mar 29, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s monetary board held interest rates unchanged after a monthly monetary policy meeting, surprising some market participants who expected a rate increase. Seven out of 13 economists expected the Central Bank to raise rates to tackle high credit growth and pressure on the Rupee, according to a poll done […]
Throwing rocks at the Google Bus, the Rushkoff way
Mar 29, 2016 (LBO) – In his latest book ‘Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus,’ media theorist Douglas Rushkoff argues that the free market isn’t written in stone and a path to a more resilient way of doing business involves understanding the steady-state economy. He reminds us to stop using the market as an excuse […]
Sri Lanka should open up more than two sectors for ETCA: Prof. Samarajiva
Mar 29, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka should open up more sectors for the proposed Indo-Lanka Economic and Technology Cooperative Agreement or ETCA, a head of regional think tank said. A former telecoms regulator and founding Chair of LIRNEasia Professor Rohan Samarajiva said at a seminar that the construction industry is a one sector that […]
Monetary policy cannot substitute for structural reforms: Raghuram Rajan
New Delhi, Mar 13, 2016 (LBO) – “Structural reforms, typically ones that increase competition, foster innovation, and drive institutional change, are the way to raise potential growth,” said Raghuram Rajan, Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Rajan was speaking at a three-day high-level conference in New Delhi themed “Advancing Asia: Investing for the Future.” […]
LIRNEasia expands knowledge base in big data
Mar 08, 2016 (LBO) – A new report from LIRNEasia on using behavioral big data for public purposes aims to explores privacy issues at the frontiers of research on big data, the think tank said. The research aims to produce insights from Mobile Network Big Data (MNBD) for informing policy across various domains such as […]
Sri Lanka’s megapolis plan a challenge, needs experts to make it successful
Feb 26, 2016 (LBO) – Sri Lanka’s Megapolis development project’s success depends on the establishment of a separate authority to govern the project while social change would also be a key, the president of the Chamber of Construction Industry said. “The Megapolis Authority with the right expertise is a must if this project is to […]